Grade 6 College Vocabulary, Week 32

Definition: Having to do with a proverb; so well known that it is talked about everywhere, like a proverb.

From the reading: "...he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs."

KJV link: Of Solomon it is written, "And he spake three thousand proverbs" (1 Kings 4:32). His wisdom became proverbial.

Synonyms:

legendary, famous, well-known

Antonyms:

unknown, obscure, unheard-of

Root:Latin proverbium, "a saying," from pro- "forth" + verbum "word."

Definition: Exactly suited to the moment; fitting; quick to learn; likely or inclined to do something.

Context: "The preacher sought to find out acceptable words" (Ecclesiastes 12:10). He hunted for words that were apt: right for their time and place.

KJV: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Proverbs 25:11). The Lord's servant must be "gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient" (2 Timothy 2:24).

Synonyms:

fitting, suitable, appropriate

Antonyms:

unfitting, inappropriate, ill-suited

Root:Latin aptus, "fastened, fitted," from apere, "to fasten."

Definition: to gather material from many places and arrange it into one collection, such as a book, list or record.

Context: The Preacher "sought out, and set in order many proverbs" (Ecclesiastes 12:9). He compiled them. This week you compile a portfolio of your best work from the whole year.

Synonyms:

assemble, collect, arrange

Antonyms:

scatter, disperse, break up

Root:Latin compilare, "to heap together," from com- "together" + pilare "to pile up, press."

Definition: eager to learn and asking many questions; (in a bad sense) prying into other people's business.

Context: Sherlock Holmes is inquisitive about the smallest details: a stain on a sleeve, the wear on a shoe, the mud on a boot.

KJV: "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2).

Synonyms:

curious, questioning, probing; (bad sense) nosy, prying

Antonyms:

incurious, uninterested, indifferent

Root:Latin inquirere, "to search into," from in- "into" + quaerere "to seek."

Definition: Unusual, remarkable or strange (the common sense in older books and on college tests); one only; single.

From the reading: "...is certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to."

Also: Holmes says, "Singularity is almost invariably a clue." The odd detail is often the one that solves the case.

Synonyms:

remarkable, extraordinary, peculiar

Antonyms:

ordinary, common, usual

Root:Latin singularis, "alone, one by one," from singulus, "single."

Definition: very strange or odd, especially in a way that is hard to explain.

From the reading: "...the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be."

Synonyms:

weird, outlandish, grotesque

Antonyms:

ordinary, normal, conventional

Root:French bizarre, "odd," probably from Italian bizzarro, "angry, unpredictable."

Definition: looking inward; given to examining one's own thoughts and feelings.

From the reading: "...looked me over in his singular introspective fashion."

KJV link: Introspection done rightly leads to repentance: "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD" (Lamentations 3:40).

Synonyms:

reflective, thoughtful, contemplative

Antonyms:

outward-looking, thoughtless, unreflective

Root:Latin intro "inward" + specere "to look."

Definition: Sharp and keen in noticing or thinking; severe and sudden, as an acute pain or an acute shortage.

From the reading: "...science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime."

KJV link: Mature believers are "those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). Practice makes the mind acute.

Synonyms:

sharp, keen, perceptive; (second sense) severe, intense

Antonyms:

dull, slow; (second sense) mild, chronic

Root:Latin acutus, "sharpened," from acuere, "to sharpen."

Definition: to form a theory, or a possible explanation, about why something happened.

From the reading: "It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data." (Theorise is the British spelling.)

KJV link: "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him" (Proverbs 18:13). Hear the facts first, and then theorize.

Synonyms:

hypothesize, speculate, suppose

Antonyms:

observe, verify, prove (to test rather than guess)

Root:Greek theoria, "a looking at, contemplation," from theorein, "to look at."

Definition: able to be done or carried out; possible and reasonable.

From the reading: "It certainly sounds feasible." (Watson, after Holmes explains how a coat was thrown from a window.)

Synonyms:

possible, workable, practicable

Antonyms:

impossible, unworkable, impractical

Root:Old French faisable, "that can be done," from faire, "to do" (Latin facere).

Definition: To undo twisted or knitted threads; to solve or explain something complicated; to fall apart.

From the reading: "...be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel."

Synonyms:

solve, untangle, decipher

Antonyms:

tangle, complicate, entangle

Root:un- + ravel, from Dutch rafelen, "to fray out threads."

Definition: to show that someone is involved in a wrong or a crime; to drag someone into a matter.

From the reading: "To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia."

Synonyms:

involve, incriminate, entangle

Antonyms:

exonerate, clear, acquit

Root:Latin implicare, "to fold in, entangle," from in- "in" + plicare "to fold."

Definition: to carry out or commit something wrong, such as a crime or a trick.

From the reading: "...some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house..."

Synonyms:

commit, carry out, inflict

Antonyms:

prevent, refrain from, forestall

Root:Latin perpetrare, "to carry through," from per- "thoroughly" + patrare "to bring about."

Definition: the person who is guilty of a crime or wrong; (also) the cause of a problem.

From the reading: "...it is very possible that he is indeed the culprit."

KJV link: Hidden wrongs come to light: "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).

Synonyms:

offender, wrongdoer, guilty party

Antonyms:

innocent, victim

Root:Old English law French, probably from cul. prit, a court clerk's short form for "guilty, and ready to prove it"; compare Latin culpa, "fault."

Definition: having a bad reputation; not respectable in appearance or character.

From the reading: "...a drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room." (It is Holmes in disguise.)

Synonyms:

shabby, disgraceful, shady

Antonyms:

respectable, reputable, honorable

Root:dis- "not" + reputable, from Latin reputare, "to think over, reckon."

Definition: so trustworthy that it cannot be doubted or called into question.

From the reading: "...in the shape of loans, where the security is unimpeachable."

KJV link: Daniel's enemies "could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him" (Daniel 6:4). His character was unimpeachable.

Synonyms:

blameless, irreproachable, trustworthy

Antonyms:

questionable, doubtful, suspect

Root:un- "not" + impeach, from Old French empechier, "to hinder," from Late Latin impedicare, "to fetter."

Definition: a weary, listless boredom that comes from having nothing worth doing.

From the reading: "It saved me from ennui" ... "My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence."

KJV link: The cure for ennui is good work: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Synonyms:

boredom, tedium, weariness

Antonyms:

enthusiasm, zest, interest

Root:French ennui, from Old French enui, "annoyance," from Latin in odio, "in hatred."

Definition: A folder or case of a person's best finished work; a collection of investments held by a person or company.

Context: Your Grade 6 portfolio holds a maxim, a refutation, a confirmation, a story, a poem, an essay and a memoir scene, all as clean final copies.

Synonyms:

folder, collection, dossier

Antonyms:

(none exact) a loose scrap, a rough draft

Root:Italian portafoglio, from portare "to carry" + foglio "sheet of paper" (Latin folium, "leaf").

Definition: the act of saying aloud a passage learned by heart, especially before listeners.

Context: For your recitation, you will say Proverbs 16:18 or another maxim from memory before the family.

KJV link: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psalm 119:11).

Synonyms:

recital, rendition, delivery

Antonyms:

improvisation, reading from notes

Root:Latin recitare, "to read aloud," from re- "again" + citare "to call, summon."

Definition: to reach the highest point or the final, completing stage.

Context: A year of maxims, refutations and confirmations culminates in the portfolio, the timed writing and the recitation.

KJV link: A faithful steward's labor ends in praise: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).

Synonyms:

climax, conclude, crown

Antonyms:

begin, commence, originate

Root:Late Latin culminare, "to crown," from culmen, "top, summit."